Missie, visie en strategie

Wat is de missie, de visie en de strategie van een organisatie?

Wat is de missie?

Een missie definieert het bestaansrecht en identiteit van een organisatie. Door middel van je missie geef je aan wie je bent, wat je doet en wat je wil bereiken. Je missie is tijdloos, maar wel toe te passen op dit moment. Een missie staat dus, in tegenstelling tot een visie, niet voortdurend ter discussie.

De missie van een organisatie bestaat over het algemeen uit de volgende vier onderdelen:

Werkterrein

Bestaansrecht

Betekenis voor belanghebbenden

Normen, waarden en overtuigingen

Wat is de visie?

De visie sluit aan bij de missie. Waar de missie bepaalt waarom een organisatie doet wat ze doet (doelstelling en bestaansreden) verwijst de visie naar de manier waarop de missie wordt bereikt. De visie (op succes) omschrijft hoe de organisatie er uit zou zien als de missie gerealiseerd is. Het bepaalt de te volgen strategie.

In de definitie van de visie kijk je naar de wereld van nu en de kansen in de toekomst en beschrijf je de gewenste droomsituatie. Om een visie voor je onderneming te formuleren kan je jezelf de volgende vragen stellen:

Welke ontwikkelingen (economisch, sociologisch, technisch, politiek) zijn belangrijk voor onze organisatie?

Hoe ziet onze toekomst eruit?

Welke ambities hebben wij op langere termijn?

Welke kerncompetenties moeten we voor de toekomst gaan ontwikkelen?

Een visie geeft altijd een beeld van de plaats en positie van je eigen organisatie in die verre toekomst.

Wat zijn de doelstellingen?

De doelen die je wilt bereiken worden afgeleid van je missie en visie. Van hier uit ga je een strategie bedenken om deze tot een goed eind te brengen. Doelstellingen zijn tastbare resultaten die je nastreeft om de missie, visie en strategie van de organisatie te verwezenlijken. Om doelstellingen te kunnen halen moet je ze SMART maken. Specifiek, Meetbaar, Acceptabel, Realistisch en Tijdgebonden.

Wat is de strategie?

Een visie is wat we willen bereiken, de strategie hoe we het willen bereiken. De strategie volgt op de visie.

Strategie is de manier waarop middelen worden ingezet om doelen te bereiken. Deze doelen bepaal je door naar buiten te kijken en vooruit te kijken. Strategie omvat een selectie van activiteiten waarin een organisatie zal uitblinken en meerwaarde zal creëren. Strategie is echter geen losstaand managementproces is. Het is een enkele stap in een lange reeks die begint bij de missie, bij de visie, bij de strategie, bij het uitvoerende werk van de werknemers in de organisatie en het eindigt bij een positieve klantwaardering.

Christiaan Janssens
Executive Coach
CRO @ Spa Akwa Belgium

How To Give A Great Speech

How To Give A Great Speech

What is a great speech?

- Great speeches are primarily emotional, not logical

- Small shifts in tone make an enormous difference to the audience, so sweat the details

- A great speech has a clear voice speaking throughout

- A great speech conveys one idea only, though it can have lots of supporting points

- A great speech answers a great need

How to organize your speech?

A good speech must have structure. By providing your speech with a beginning, a middle, and an end, you will lay the foundations for a successful speech.

Opening

The first minute of your speech are very important. In those sixty seconds you must grab the attention of the audience, and engage their interest in what you have to say in your speech. This can be achieved in several ways. For example you could raise a thought-provoking question, make an interesting or controversial statement, recite a relevant quotation or even recount a joke.

Don't make a incoherent opening. There is nothing worse than the speaker who starts with something like: "When I was asked to speak on this subject, I wondered what to say .."

Instead make a dramatic opening which seizes the attention with the very first words. This might be a stirring statement: "This year we are going to make a fundamental transformation of our whole organisation". It might be a challenging question: "How can we turn ourselves into an even more successful organisation?" Whatever you do, don't ask a question that invites a cynical answer from your audience.

Once you have won the attention of the audience, your speech should move seamlessly to the middle of your speech.

The middle part, the body of your speech

The body of your speech will always be the largest part of your speech. At this point your audience will have been introduced to you and the subject of your speech (as set out in your opening) and will hopefully be ready to hear your arguments, your thoughts or even your ramblings on the subject of your speech.

The best way to set out the body of your speech is by formulating a series of points that you would like to raise. In the context of your speech, a "point" could be a statement about a product, a joke about the bridegroom or a fond memory of the subject of a eulogy.

The points should be organized so that related points follow one another so that each point builds upon the previous one. This will also give your speech a more logical progression, and make the job of the listener a far easier one.

Don't try to overwhelm your audience with countless points. It is better to make a small number of points well than to have too many points, none of which are made satisfactorily.

Close

Your speech closing is the most critical part of your speech even more important than the opening. An effective speech closing summarizes your main arguments, resolves loose ends, provides some further food for thought, leaves your audience with positive memories, and ends with a final thought. A poor speech closing is usually one that is absent altogether, one that drags on for half the speech, or one that fails to make any sort of conclusion at all.

How to prepare for your speech?

“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail”

Making a good speech starts weeks before with thorough preparation. You should have been thinking of themes and points, noting down ideas and sources, crafting phrases and sentences.

Without a great familiarity with your speech, you are putting yourself at a significant risk of failure.

It is very important to practice the speech:

- Set a timer. You should know how long your speech needs to be. If you can't deliver the speech within the given amount of time, then you may need to shorten it or lengthen it. Remember to include time for a Q&A period if appropriate.

- Practice your speech in front of a friend or a mirror. Practice looking up at your audience so that your eyes aren't always on your notes.

- Speak slowly and annunciate clearly. Pause between the sections of your speech so that your audience can digest the information.

- Mark up your speech as you go with a pen or pencil. If words sound unnatural to you or a sentence is awkward as you speak it, mark it out and edit it to make it sound natural.

- Make a video recording of yourself as you make the speech. Analyze your appearance, your body language and your delivery.

- Practice. If you've delivered your speech in rehearsal multiple times, then you will feel much more confident on-stage.

- Find the story of your speech, find the outer outline. If you can remember the flow of the speech, its story, from start to finish, then you're OK. It will be very unlikely that you will lose yourself when delivering  the speech and you will be very comfortable during your delivery.

It is also very important to know your audience. Are you speaking to children or adults? Are you speaking to people who know nothing about your topic or people who are experts on your topic? Understanding your audience will help you to target your speech appropriately.

Not knowing the location where you will give your speech can be devastating.

This checklist should act as a guideline to items you should consider when preparing

What is the capacity?

How many people will attend?

What are the dimensions of the venue?

Is the venue on a single level?

Will you be at the same level as the audience?

Will you be speaking with microphone?

Will there be a power source?

Will there be a computer?

Will there be water available?

Will the computer be connected to a screen visible by the audience?

Where will you be positioned prior to the speech?

Will you be standing during your speech

Will there be a lectern or table?

Will the lights be on? On stage?

How to deliver the speech?

It's time to deliver your speech in public. You're probably nervous, but that's normal. As seen above there is much preparation you can do that will put your mind at ease and make your public speaking event a comfortable, enjoyable, day.

Once you are called upon to make your speech, pause for a couple of moments before actually starting your delivery. If you've had to walk up to a platform this will give you time to steady your breath. If you are nervous it gives you time to take a few shallow breaths. In any event, it gives the audience an opportunity to settle down and focus on you and your message.

If you are not using a microphone, be aware of the need to speak sufficiently loudly that the furthest member of your audience can hear you clearly. Take the opportunity to move around a little which will help to command attention.

If you are using a microphone, speak at normal volume, but a little more slowly and distinctly than if you were not using amplification. Don't move around because you'll leave the microphone behind, unless it is fixed to you.

You should convey a sense of enthusiasm for the subject. This will effect your delivery and how your speech is received.

Occasionally alter the speed, volume and tone of your delivery. Speaking slower or faster and quieter or louder and being more cheerful or more serious all adds dramatic effect and keeps the attention of your audience.

Regularly sweep your eyes left-centre-right and back and front-middle-rear and back, so that you engage all members of your audience.

It is good to use your hands expressively but do not wave your arms around which will make you look manic.

Count up to 5 in your head before leaving the podium at the end of your speech. Acknowledge your audience with a smile, a brief nod or a slight bow, if appropriate.


Christiaan Janssens
Executive Coach
CRO @ Spa Akwa Belgium

A Tale Of Two Cows

A Tale of two cows

Christiaan Janssens
Executive Coach
CRO @ Spa Akwa Belgium

Sales & Marketing: Closing The Sale

Sales & Marketing: Closing The Sale: Close the Sale Empathy Empathy is an intimate understanding of the feelings, thoughts, and motives of the other person, the pros...

Closing The Sale

Close the Sale

Empathy

Empathy is an intimate understanding of the feelings, thoughts, and motives of the other person, the prospect or the customer. That's why empathy is of prime importance in selling. Empathy is putting yourself into the prospect's shoes. It's knowing and feeling what your prospect is feeling. It's knowing exactly how to proceed depending on the information the prospect has given you.

Until you develop empathy for your customers, until you develop the skill of calling for and getting a favourable agreement that sales people call consummation, you probably won't make it in selling. The customer should sense that you understand and care about helping them solve their problems, not that you are just looking for a sale.

As a salesperson, you must truly believe that you can satisfy the prospect's needs, you must see the benefits, features, and limitations of your product or service from your prospect's view; you must weigh things on the prospect's scale of values, not your own, you must realize what is important to the prospect.

Focusing on your prospect enables you to answer the crucial question in any selling situation: When should you close the sale?

Watch for signs that a deal is near

There's a certain electricity in the air when the prospect is ready to go ahead, but here are some positive buying signs to watch for:

The prospects have been moving along at a smooth pace, and suddenly they slow the pace way down. They're making their final analysis or rationalizing the decision.

They speed up the pace. They're excited to move ahead. Suddenly, they start asking lots of questions. Like anyone else, they ask questions only about things that interest them.

They ask questions about general terms of purchase before they settle on one particular model. Some people immediately start asking questions about initial investment, delivery, and so on. They feel safe doing this because they know you can't sell them everything. If they ask these questions after you know exactly what they want, it's positive stimulus.

Go for a test close after you get positive stimulus. If you think that your customers are ready to buy, try a test question to make sure you are reading the stimulus correctly. As you get more experience in selling, you will become more proficient at reading body language and other buying signals..

Don't shorten the sales process

Some people start relying so much on positive readings that they short cut other vital steps such as qualifying or demonstration. When you shorten the overall selling cycle, it's hard to go back and restore the steps you skipped. Invariably, shortcutting steps causes you to lose many sales. Although it is important to become better at knowing when to close the sale, each prospect should get your full presentation to make sure you don't come up short at the end.

When you ask a question from which you expect an answer confirming that the prospect wants to go ahead with the purchase, you want one of two things to happen:

- The prospect gives you a yes or an answer that indirectly confirms their desire to go ahead with the sale.

- The prospect gives you an objection or asks for more information to enable them to make a -decision.

If you start talking before the prospect answers, you lose control of the negotiations. And you gain nothing. You have neither a confirmation to go ahead nor an objection; you wasted your attempt to consummate the sale.

Would you like delivery on the 10th or the 20th? They pause to think when would be the best time to have the product delivered. You get uncomfortable with the silence and start thinking that they don't want it. You panic and say, Okay, how about if I give you another 5% off? When the total investment wasn't what the prospect was considering in the first place. That's why you always wait for them to respond before you speak, after asking your consummation question, and why it is so important to keep quiet after you ask your final consummation question. If you have a big mouth, this would be the time to put your foot in it (literally) to keep yourself quiet.

If you start looking around or fidgeting, you distract the customer and let them know how uncomfortable you are. Neither of these scenarios helps you move toward a successful consummation. Try to focus your stress in a way that they will not see or recognize it as a nervous action. For example, recite the ABCs backward to yourself, or wiggle your toes — they can't see that, either. Your stress-release can be that simple.